Heather Karner is in her first season on the Central Arkansas staff, coming to Conway following two years as a graduate assistant at Tulane.
"I'm very pleased that Heather has decided to join our program," Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing said upon Karner's hiring in the summer of 2018. "She is a young, upcoming coach who has great passion for the game. She's gained valuable experience in her time at Tulane and with her professional playing career, and she is going to be a great role model for our players."
At Tulane, Karner worked under veteran head coach Lisa Stockton – who has nearly 600 wins and 11 NCAA Tournaments in her 27 seasons. Prior to Tulane, Karner spent one season as an assistant at Northwest Kansas Technical College, where she was involved with the team's workouts and practices; recruiting efforts; scouting reports and served as the program's strength & conditioning coach.
Karner enjoyed a successful playing career at Youngstown State from 2006-08, following two years in the junior college ranks coming out of Luthern South High School in St. Louis. At Youngstown State she led the team in scoring both seasons, was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team, was a Horizon League Preseason All-Conference selection, and set the YSU single-season 3-point record in her senior season when she hit 87 en route to a team-best 14 points per game.
After concluding her collegiate playing career, Karner spent six seasons playing professionally in Germany with TG Sandhausen, Gruner Stern Keltern and SG Weiterstadt - where she was team captain. During her time in Germany, she coached multiple youth teams for both boys and girls.
